Reminisence
by penspot
Summary: What were the Professor's feelings when he found out the White Witch was dead?


A/N: What were the Professor's feelings when he found out the White Witch was dead? This is the most pointless one shot in existence, so be warned.

Professor Digory Kirke was a truly remarkable man. He had never doubted that Lucy was telling the truth in the beginning nor did he doubt the children now as they explained why he would never see four old fur coats again. He never really cared for the coats, but they were his mother and fathers so they needed some place to be kept.

They told a brief story of their adventures in Narnia. Brief enough only to explain his lost coats. But he wanted to hear more of the beloved land that he and his friend Polly were so blessed to visit. He wanted to know how much it had changed, how many generations had it been since the line of King Frank and Queen Helen died out and allowed the children before him to be kings and queens.

Yet the biggest question in his mind was what happened to _her_. The foulest and most beautiful lady imaginable was still a missing piece. Of course they children only told that it was winter and they needed coats. Then they fought a battle and were crowned kings and queens of Narnia for years, but they lost their coats when the first spring came.

"No, I don't think it will any good trying to go back through the wardrobe door to get the coats," he said calmly, though inside he begged for more. "You won't get into Narnia by _that_ route. Nor would the coats be much use by now if you did."

"Will we go back someday?" they asked.

"Eh, what's that? Yes, of course you'll get back to Narnia again someday. Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia. But don't go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don't try to get there at all. It'll happen when you're not looking for it. And don't talk too much about it even among yourselves. And don't mention it to anyone else unless you find that they've had adventures of the same sort themselves."

"How do we know if someone's been to Narnia?" the asked.

"What's that? How will you know? Oh, you'll know alright. Odd things they say—even their looks—will let the secret out. Keep your eyes open. Bless me, what _do_ they teach them at these schools?"

It wasn't till after the war when both the Professor and the Pevensies would share their stories with each other. Neither were allowed back into Narnia, and so they felt comfort in reminiscing in all of their adventures. What was better was that Polly was there too.

"So, tell us about your first adventure into Narnia," she said. Lucy beamed and immediately went into the story of how they were sent to the Professor's house during the war and how she stumbled into Narnia while exploring and met her best friend Mr. Tumnus. When it came to Edmund's part of the story, he shifted uncomfortably.

"Come on Ed, she's been gone for years… centuries in Narnian time. You don't have to be afraid."

The Professor watched as Edmund thanked Lucy and smiled before continuing with the story and how he followed Lucy and met the White Witch. She fed him and talked with him and petted his ego, promising Edmund a throne by her power. All he had to do was bring his family to her. He didn't know the prophecy or the evil she was at the time, but paid for it by spending days as her hostage and eventually being stabbed by her broken wand at the Battle of Beruna. Peter finished the story of Aslan coming to the rescue after dying for Edmund and rising again from death and killing the witch.

_So… she's finally gone. Thank Aslan._ Relief washed over him and Polly as the horrible memories of Jadis the queen of Charn resurfaced. Her rein and death explained so much. The tree of Protection must have died somehow and she took over Narnia. Her powers were different in each world. In Charn she was powerful enough to destroy the world. On Earth she had no powers whatsoever. In Narnia they were limited to a wand.

The Professor contemplated all of this, his scholar mind taking in all the pieces and fitting them together. She had lived for so long, doomed to roam the world in torment for eating the fruit that he turned down. Knowing her end and understanding the possibilities, he sighed in content, glad he never took the bite of the forbidden fruit.

"So Professor, what is your story?" asked Peter.

Professor Digory Kirke was a truly remarkable man. He sat back with ease, closed his eyes in remembrance, and divulged the beginning of a girl who met a grubby boy and were sent into a magical wood between the worlds. The day was good, the friends of Narnia at peace. The What-ifs were solved and they reveled in the comfort of their stories and in Aslan.


End file.
